Archive for the ‘RAM’ Category

Enlarge/ A 2015 Ram 1500, one of the models affected by this recall. (credit: FCA)

Dodgy software code controlling side airbags and safety belt pretensioners is responsible for a recall affecting more than a million Ram pickup trucks. On Friday, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) announced that it will be recalling Ram 1500 and 2500 trucks (model years 2013 to 2016) and Ram 3500 trucks (model years 2014 to 2016) beginning in June in order to rectify the problem.

The software error, which could prevent side airbag deployment and belt pretensioning in cases where a vehicle rolls over following an underbody impact—say, hitting road debris or something when off-roading—has already been implicated in one death. Although the code has not been conclusively fingered as the culprit, FCA says it is issuing the recall proactively.

A similar issue forced General Motors to recall more than 4 million vehicles in 2016.

NEW YORK—It seems like barely any time has passed since our last major auto show, but the world’s auto makers are back in Manhattan this week for the 2017 New York International Auto Show. You’ll be able to read (and watch) our take on many of the new vehicles on display in the coming days, but what follows are our picks for the best new models you’ll be able to see at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, starting today when the auto show opens to the public.

Outstanding in the Automotive Technology field: Cadillac Supercruise

Since this is a technology site, we’ll kick things off with the best new automotive technology of this year’s NYIAS. That honor belongs to Cadillac, which is joining the semi-autonomous driving fray with its new “level 2” system, called Supercruise. We have driven some pretty good semi-autonomous systems recently: Audi, Volvo, and Tesla all spring immediately to mind. These use a combination of adaptive cruise control and lane keeping assists to keep your car on track on the highway, backing up the human driver to counteract fatigue and provide a little digital helping hand on long drives. Supercruise combines those two driver assists with a few extra neat features that mark the next step on the road to fully self-driving vehicles.